Automatic safety gate for railroad crossings



Oct. 21 1924; 11,512,580

' A. R. DE CAMP AUTOMATIC SAFETY GATE FOR RAILROAD CROSSINGS Filed April 4, 1924 2 Sheets-Shep. l

Oct. 21 1924..

A. R. DE CAMP AUTOMATIC SAFETY GATE FOR RAILROAD CROSSINGS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 4, 1924 w l :5

Patented Oct. 21, 1924.

UNITED STATES ALVIN R. DE CAMP, OF DENVER, OULOBADO.

AUTOMATIC SAFETY GATE Application filed April 4,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALVIN R. DE CAMP, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at 2027 West 32nd Avenue, in the city and county of Denver and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Safety Gates tor Railroad Crossings; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification. I

This invent on relates to automatic satety gates for railway crossings.

Owing to the increased amount of travel on our highways, accidents due to the col lisions of trains with automobiles and other vehicles at railway crossings have greatly increased. S nce it is obviously impractical to do away with all of the great number of grade crossings over the entire country, it is evident that some means should be provided for decreasing to a minimum the accidents due to this cause.

It is the object of this invention to produce a safety gate that can be nstalled at grade crossings, at a moderate expense. and which shall be so constructed that it will be closed by an approaching train and which will automatically open when the train has passed.

In order to describe my invent on with the greatest degree of clearness I shall have reference to the accompanying drawings in wh ch the preferred form of my invention is shown and in which Figure 1 is a plan view of a railway grade crossing which has been equipped with my improved safety gate.

Figure 2 is a section taken on line 22 Fig. 1.

Figure 3 s a plan view of the locking mechanism for holding the gate in open position.

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the parts shown in plan view in Fig. 3.

FOR RAILROAD CROSSINGS.

1924. Serial No. 704,155.

Figure 5 is a section taken on l ne 55 F ig. 1, showing the parts to an enlarged scale.

Figure 6 is a view looking in the direction of the arrow 6 in Figure 2, and Figure 7 is a section taken on line 7 Fig. 1.

Numerals 1 and 2 represent the two rails of a railway track and 3 represents the ties. A highway l crosses the railway at right angles. In order to install my safety gates it is desirable to provide a shallow pit enclosed by concrete side walls 5 and end walls 6. Th s pit is provided with a suitable covering 7 (Fig. 7) which forms the road surface. This surface is, of course, of suflicient strength to Withstand the heavy traflic to which the road is subjected. In fact the road surface 7 may be formed and supported in any suitable way and has been shown merely because the invention can be more clearly described by doing so.

Near each transverse end wall 6 I pivot a gate 8. These doors are each secured to a bar 9 and may be moved from the dotted l line pos tion in Fig. 5 to the full line position and back again. When the road is clear the doors 8 occupy the dotted line position and form a portion of the roadbed, but when the train is approaching they occupy the position shown infull lines in Figs. 5 and 7. Secured to each door is an arm 10 which extends at an angle to the plane of the door and to the end of which the operating cable 11 is attached. The gates 8 eX- tend the entire w'dth of the road and are from. 8 to 12 inches wide and may be made of steel plates or any other suitable material. It is evident that when the cables 11 are moved in the direction of the arrows in Fig. 1 thev rotate the doors about three pivots in a direction which moves them from i noperative to operative position.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 1. 2 and 7. it will be noticed that the cable 11 that comes from the gate marked X in Fig. 1, extends to and about a pulley 12 and thence parallel to the rail 2 for a d stance of several hundred feet to a second pulley 18. which is rotatably mounted in a suitable Lil bracket 1st 2). At the point where pulley 18 is located I provide bent resilient bar 15, one end, 16, of which is secured by a bolt 17 to bracket 18 that extends inwardly from the rail The other end 19 of bar rests on a plate 20,, which projects inwardly from and s attached to the rail.

It will be noted that the end 19 is inclined inwardly from the rail whereas the straight portion 15 and end 16 are parallel with the rail. The end 16 points in the direction away from the highway crossing so that the fiance of the car wheels will ride on the bar 15 when the train approaches the crossing. but will enter the space between the rail and the bar when coming away from the crossing, in which case the wheel flanges will merely-J force the bar away from the rail without bending the same. Referring now to 2 it will be noticed that the bar 15 has a barclret 21 secured to the underside thereof. The lower end of this bracket extends downwardly in close proximity to the pulley The end or cable 11 is attached to this bracket. When the train approaches the crossing the flange of the wheel will engage the upper surface of the bar 15 and press the same downwardly thereby pulling the cable 11 in the direction of the arrows Fig. 1) whereby the gates 8 are moved to open position. Since there are two gates to be. opened cable 11 must branch one branch going to each gate. In Fig. 1 T have indicated iv numeral 2.4 the point where the two brancl join. One branch extends directly to the gate 8, marked X, and the other passes around pulley 23 and to the other gate. It is therefore evident that the two grates will be opened simultaneously by the action of the train. The end 16 may be much longer in proportion than it is in the drawing so that the downward movement of the bracket 21 will be as gradual as possible. as a too sudden cownward movement of the bracket would cause a too violent movement of the gates and would subject the parts to excessive strains due to the inertia of the moving parts.

- As pointed out above the bar 15 should be located several hundred ieet'from the crossing, in fact it is preferable to have it about a quarter of a mile or iore from the crossing so that suliicient time will elapse between the operation of the gates and the arrival of the train to permit any vehicle that might be bet-ween the gates at the time that they operate to move oil from the track before the should be located railway track to wagon or a large vided to hold the gates in operative position from the time that they are moved into such position by the action of the wheel flanges on the rail 17 until the train arrives at the cross ng and to automatically release the gates when the train has passed.

For the purpose of holding the gates in operative position I have provided the following means: Each gate has secured to it an arm 21 provided at its end with a not ch 25. The end of the arm has an inclined surface 526. A locking; bar 27 is pivoted at El and is acted upon by a spring 29. Secured to the free end of each bar 27 is a cable 60. These cables pass around pulleys 31. and to pulleys 32 and are connected togcther at 32",. From the point of juncture a single cable extends to the pulley 34 and has its end iastened to the lower end of a bracket corresponding to the bracket- 21 which is secured to the iniderside 01'' the bar b5. which corresponds to and operates in the same manner as the bar 15 and associated parts. The bar is located as near as possible to the crossing. i l hen the flanges of the wheels contact with the bar 35 the latter will move downwards and pull the cables in the dizcction oi. the arrows in Fig. 1. This will rotate the locking' bars 2'? about their pivots 28 t a-inst the tension o'li'the springs E29. thereby withdrawing the locking; bars from the notches Q5 and releasing the grates which will then move to inoperative position.

In the dii'awiim l have shown the means for operating the \tes, located on one side of the cro only and these are effective for the purpose of opening and closing the gates only when the train comes in the direction of the arrow (Fig. 1). When there is double track each track is equipped with means such as described for controlling: the action oi the gates. When there is a single track there is opcninr and clol'iiup' incchuw ism like that described on each side of the crossing.

i l hen the train travels in a. direction opposite to that indicated, by the arrow the flanges instead of traveling). over the bars 15 and will enter between the rails and the bars. owing: to the fact that the ends 19 are inclined with respect to the rails so that the flanges will enter l' tween the two. ln orde to permit the bars Lil and 3.1 to yield when the flanges enter between them and the rails I have provided brackets 36 that are clamped to the bottom of the rails. outer ends of these brackets are vertical brackets 37 that serve as abutments for the springs 38 which serve to hold the bars 15 and yieldinc ly aejainst the rails.

The operation of my device is as follows:

Norm lly the gates are in the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 5 and the higln way is clear so that it can be employed for trafiic 1n the usual way. Let us now suppose Secured to the that a trait-r arrives, travelingin the direcion of arro A in Fisl. When th fr wheel W of the engine reaches the position indicated in Fig. 2 theflange will engage the upper surface of the bar 15 gradually forcing the latter downwardly. This causes the bracket 21 to move downwardly and to pull the cables 11 in the direction 6f the arrows (Fig. 1). This movement of the cable will cause the gates to rotate about their axis into the position shown in Figs. and 7. As the gates reach operative or open position the inclined portion 26 of the arm strikes the locking bar 27 and moves the same against the tension of the spring 29. When the notch reaches the plane of the bar 27 the latter will enter the notch and look the gate in open position. When the front wheel of the engine reaches the bar the flange of the wheel will press the bar downwardly, thereby moving the cables 30 in the direction of the arrows (Fig. 1). This will cause the locking bar 27 to be rotated about its pivot 28 out of the notch 25, whereby the gates will be released and they will then move back into inoperative position.

In case a car or other vehicle should be in between the gates when the latter operates the driver will be apprised of his danger by the action of the gates and will have time to move to a place of safety off from the track.

From the above it will be apparent that I have produced a safety gate for railway crossings that is of simple and substantial construction, which can be installed at a moderate cost, which is positive in its opera tion and which is automatic in its action and therefore requires no attendant.

The above description and the drawings are intended to describe the principles upon which my gate depends for its action and are to be considered in an illustrative and not in a limiting sense as it is my intention to modify the construction so as to meet the conditions under which the device is to operate.

Having now'described my invention, what I claim as new is:

1. In a safety device for railway grade crossings, in combination, a railway track, a gate located on each side of the railway track, said gates being pivoted and adapted to rotate about an axis parallel to the track, means associated with the rails of the railway track, for moving said gates from inoperative to operative position when a train approaches the crossing, means for locking the gates'in o erative position, and means for releasing t e locking means at a time when the train has reached the crossing.

2. In a safety device for railway grade crossings in combination, a railway track, a highway crossing the track, a gate extending across the highway on each side of the track,

said gates being pivotally mounted on axis parallel to the track, means comprising a bar secured to a rail of the track for causing said gates to be rotated about their axes from inoperative to operative position whenever a train approaches the crossing, means for locking said gates in operative position, and means for rendering the locking means inoperative, said last means being caused to function by the train when the latter approaches close to the crossing.

3. In a safety device for railway grade crossings, in combination, a railway track, a highway crossing the track, a gate extending across the highway on each side of the track, said gates being pivotally mounted and adapted to be oscillated about axis parallel with the track, an arm secured to each gate near its axis, a cable secured to the end of each arm, said cable extending from the gates to a point along the track spaced some distance from the crossing, means for moving said cable and for causing said gates to move from inoperative to operative position as a train approaches the crossing, said means comprising a bent bar held adjacent, a rail, a bracket secured to the underside of the bar, the lower end of said bracket being connected to the end of the cable, means comprising a locking bar for locking the gates in operative position and means for rendering said locking means inoperative, said last named means being operated by the train after it has first moved the gates to operative position.

4. In a safety device for railway grade crossings in combination, a railway track, a highway crossing the same, a gate across the highway on each side of the track, said gates being adapted to be moved from inoperative to operative position by the action of a train approaching the crossing, means comprising a locking bar for holding the gate in operative position and means for releasing said gates, the means for moving said gates into operative position and for releasing the same, comprising a fiat bar secured at one end to a bracket fastened to a rail, the other end being slidable on a plate attached to the rail, said bar being curved upwardly intermediate its ends and adapted to be engaged by and straightened by the action of a wheel flange.

5. In a safety device for railway grade crossings in combination, a railway track, a highway crossing the same, a gate across the highway on each side of the track, said gates being adapted to be moved from inoperative to operative position by the action of a train approaching the crossing, means comprising a locking bar for holding the gate in operative position and means for releasing said gates, the means for moving said gates into operative position and for releasing the same, comprising a flat bar secured atone to render the mechanism operative when the 10 end to a bracket fastened to a rall, the other tram passes in one dlrectlon only.

' end being slidable on a plate attached to the In testimony whereof I affix my signature,

rail, said bar being curved upwardly interin presence of two witnesses.

- mediate its ends and adapted to be engaged by and straightened by the action of a wheel ALVIN R. DE CAMP.

flange, and means for causing the wheel Witnesses: flange to pass between the rail and the bar ROBT. V. ATHA, when the tram comes trom the crossing so as PAUL Moss. 

